Inspection means for sealed packages



P 1952 J. A. SARGEANT EIAL INSPECTION MEANS FOR SEALED PACKAGES FiledJune 9, 1950 Jc'imes A. Sarjeani Jack; 3 Made, Jr,

Patented Sept. 23, 1952 INSPECTION MEANS FOR SEALED PACKAGES James A.

Sargeant, Fort Belvoir, and Jack R. Wade, J r., Alexandria, Va.

Application June 9, 1950, Serial No. 167,242 3 Claims. (01. 206 -46) ctof March 3, 1883, as 1928; 370 O. G. 757i" (Granted under the a amendedApril 30,

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government for governmental purposes, without payment to us of anyroyalty thereon.

Hermetically sealed and desiccated packages are used widely'for highlydiversified purposes, for example, for the shipment and preservation ofdried or concentrated foodstuffs such as emergency rations for militarypurposes, for the packaging of medicaments or other commoditiesadversely aifected by the presence of air or moisture, and for a widevariety of other applications where it is desired to protect thecontents of the package from such access of air and moisture; and it ihighly desirable to provide means whereby the interior of the packagemay be inspected without necessitating the disturbance of the wrappingsor other coverings of the container, it being a convenient provision toinstall in the package adjacent to the container or to the contents ofthe package some mechanical means for indicating the maintenance ofdesired moistureor airtight conditions within the package itself.

An object of the present invention is to provide inspection means for ahermetically sealed package which will enable the preservation of thecontents of the package in their original condition, and which willenable the checking of the conditions of hermetic sealing of a packagewithout disturbance to the barrier, wrapping, or sealing means appliedthereto.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a readily appliedconstruction which itself will maintain a hermetic seal with the wrapperof the package and the contents thereof, and which will enable a readilyvisual inspection on the part of an observer of the conditions existenton the interior of the wrapping or package.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of improvedmounting or supporting means for a moisture indicator which by a changeof color, or otherwise, would designate to an observer an unwantedcondition of humidity, air, or the presence of moisture inside of thewrapping or package.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds, and the features of novelty will be pointed out inparticularity in the appended claims.

The invention will be understood more particularly by reference to theaccompanying drawings which show an illustrative embodiment of theinvention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hermeticallysealed package provided with the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken on the line II-II'of Fig.1, looking in the direction of the arrows; and."

Fig. 3 is an expanded perspective view showing parts of theconstruction'in disassembled relation.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference character Arepresents a hermetically sealed package provided with-a moistureandvapor-proof wrappingB, and a seal C. The illustrated embodiment of theinvention embraces an inspection window or port which is indicated at E,and which can be installed in any flexible either at the time" of the orrigid barrier material initial packaging or any has been completed. I

The invention ccmprises'a frame ass'embly'ineluding a short tubularmember 5 thatis threaded externally, as is indicated at I, and that isprovided with an end flange 9'which is'design'ed'to be received behind amoistureand vapor-proof barrier material I i which maybe either thewrapping B ora waxed or otherwise wateror moisture-proofed containerforarticles to be protected. A sealing washer l3 fits over the threads 1against the end flange 9 of the threaded cylinder 5, this end flangeforming a backing ring for the assembly; and the said barrier materialll "engages the sealing Washer 13; It will be understood that the endflange!) and the washer I3 are inserted in the barrier materialbycutting a hole' in'the latter sufiiciently large to permit insertion ofthe flange 9 and retainingwasher 13 while leaving enough of thesaidbarrier material peripherally of this opening to overliethe washerl3. Preferably, the outside surface ofthe flange 9 and the inside andoutside of the barrier material ll adjacent to the hole are coated witha quick-drying, waterand moisture-proof adhesive cement, and a retaininggasket I5 then is slipped over the threads 1 and brought tightly againstthe outside of the barrier material l l and locked tightly thereagainstby a locking ring H, which clamps the barrier material II between theash'ers l3 and i5. The locking ring ll preferably has its inner surfaceadhesively coated with the said quick-drying, moisture-and air-proofadhesive cement. v The locking ring 11 maybe either round,'as shown, andprovided with peripherahdiametrically disposed holes [9 for thereception offa spanner wrench for tightening it on the threads 1 againstthe washer l5; orthe locking ringfli'l may be hexagonal for grippingwith a usual type of jaw wrench for tightening: the ring I! against thewasher 15. Another sealing gasket 2lthn is slipped over the" threads-1;and when astime after the packaging interrupted viewing of the interiorand present invention provides means for the ready visual inspection ofthe condition and moisture content of the atmosphere and contents, indehydrated moistureand vapor-proof packages,- and permits access to theinterior of the package for application or replacement of desiccant,relative humidity indicators, instruments, and other inspections andrelated operation, and the construction is so designed that it can beinstalled either at the time the package is constructed, or it may beapplied to packages already completed; and the invention provides, also,means of securing indicators, thermometers, or other instrumentsadjacent to a window or port within the interior of the package forconvenient viewing from the exterior thereof; and the inventioncontemplates the inclusion within its scope of such modifications andchanges in structural details as may be necessary to adapt it to varyingconditions and uses, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and wish tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Inspection apparatus for viewing the interior oi hermetically sealedpackages including a hermetically sealed waterand vapor-proof barriermaterial and provided with an observation window in the said material,which comprises, in combination, an externally threaded, tubularcylindrical retaining member inserted in the said observation window andhaving an annular backing flange thereon adapted to receive the:periphery of the said window, yieldable means on the retaining memberfor hermetically sealing the periphery of the said window against thebacking flange, locking means received on the said retaining member forlocking the sealing means against the periphery of the said window inhermetically sealed relation therewith, a viewing member including atransparent cover also mounted on the said tubular retaining member inalignment with the window and approximately coextensive in areatherewith and hermetically sealed against the locking means and adaptedto permit continuous visual inspection of the interior of thehermetically sealed package through the said window, and means carriedby the said tubular retaining member for mounting in the said packageadjacent to the said window and in line of vision with the saidtransparent cover, continuously indicating means for indicating to anobserver atmospheric conditions within the said container while enablingsubstantially uncontents of the container.

2. Inspection apparatus for viewing the interior of hermetically sealedpackages including a hermetically sealed waterand vapor-proof barriermaterial and provided with an observation window in the said material,which comprises, in combination, an externally threaded, tubularcylindrical retaining member inserted in the said observation window andhaving an annular backing flange thereon adapted to receive theperiphery of the said window, sealing means mounted on the retainingmember for hermetically sealing the periphery of the said window againstthe backing flange, locking means threadedly received on the saidretaining member for locking the sealing means against the periphery ofthe said window in hermetically sealed relation therewith, a viewingmember including a transparent cover also mounted on the said tubularretaining member and hermetically sealed against the locking means withthe transparent cover in alignment with the said window andsubstantially coextensive in area therewith, and tensioned spring clipmeans mounted in the retaining member for mounting in the packageadjacent to the said window and in line of vision with the transparentcover, indicating means for indicating to an observeratmosphericconditions within the said container while enabling continuoussubstantially uninterrupted viewing of the interior of the container andcontents thereof, the inspection apparatus being adapted to bedisassembled without impairment of the hermetic seals of the package.

3. Inspection apparatus for viewing the interior of hermetically sealeddesiccated packages including a hermetically sealed waterand vaporproofbarrier material provided with an observation window therethrough forenabling viewing of the interior of the package, which comprises, incombination, a tubular, externally threaded retaining member mounted inthe observation window and having an annular backing flange thereonadapted to receive the periphery of the said window, the said retainingmember being provided interiorly with spaced oppositely disposed pairsof longitudinally extending grooves, a tensionedspring Clip membermounted in oppositely disposed pairs of the said grooves, means mountedon the spring clip member for indicating to an observer atmosphericconditions within the sealed and desiccated package, a resilient washermounted on the retaining member and positioned against the retainingflange, the said resilient washer receiving the periphery of the saidwindow, a second yieldable washer mounted on the retaining member andengaging the 'periphery of the said window in hermetically sealingengagement therewith and with the said resilient washer, a locking ringthreadedly mounted on the retaining member and snugly engaging the saidsecond washer for maintaining the gasket hermetically sealed against theperiphery of the window, a third resilient washer mounted on theretaining member in engagement with the locking ring, and a cap memberthreadedly mounted on the retainin member and hermetically sealedagainst the said third washer, the cap member including a transparentcover plate disposed in alignment with the window and having an areaapproximately commensurate with that of the window for enablingcontinuous viewing of the window and interior of the package to beobserved and the atmosphere-indicating means carried by the retainingmeans.

JAMES A. SARGEAN'I'. JACK R. WADE, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain July 12, 1923

